Scratch

Pigeons are pests and their droppings are slippery and corrode cars and stuff (sort of, if you leave it there) because of the uric acid in it, plus it contains disease as poop is wont to do. While ducks and songbirds can also be fed they do not congregate in huge flocks and are less common in cities (compare the amount of times you've seen flocks of songbirds pooping on cars and then compare them to the amount of times you've seen pigeons doing it). Also, some songbirds are bad too, like house sparrows and starlings, who replace the birds that were already there and mess up the ecosystem (which is partly why bluebirds are rarer now).

I read a lot about this kind of stuff.

edit: wow, that's a lot of parentheses

Last edited by luiysia (2012-10-03 16:55:41)

No animal (with the exception of guide dogs) would be allowed in a public loo
Are you suggesting we should kill ducks for living in their natural habitat?
Plus no one mentioned squirrels

here are the reasons in case anybody was too lazy to look at them themselves

Every year we receives a large number of complaints from members of the public regarding problems caused by pigeons.

Clearing up pigeon droppings can be very expensive. Droppings can also damage property, block gutters and make pavements slippery. Pigeons can carry diseases, which puts our health and our children’s health at risk.

They cause problems with insect pests and food put out for pigeons can attract vermin such as rats and mice.

Pigeons are wildlife. They are not domesticated and they are not dependant on us to feed them.

each of these reasons is perfectly valid

jukyter wrote:

No animal (with the exception of guide dogs) would be allowed in a public loo
Are you suggesting we should kill ducks for living in their natural habitat?
Plus no one mentioned squirrels

no i'm not! i love all animals.(and i don't kill weeds) i'm just saying that people should include pigeons in bird feeding. i have nothing against ducks. and i really love them 'cos i don't EAT them.

We recently had a similar case in Rockland with a woman that was feeding the seagulls.  She enjoyed doing it and the birds enjoyed eating but her neighbors didn't like the extra bird poop that the gulls produced.  The town eventually passed a law to make her stop.  So it's not just pigeons.  I've seen similar issues with ducks, geese, swans and even chickens (they run free in the San Diego Zoo). 

Here's one solution that they tried in Homer, Alaska:  A designated eagle feeding area!
http://www.scratch.mit.edu/ext/youtube/?v=CYOyTEHcYQA

luiysia wrote:

9star wrote:

luiysia wrote:

Pigeons are pests and their droppings are slippery and corrode cars and stuff (sort of, if you leave it there) because of the uric acid in it, plus it contains disease as poop is wont to do. While ducks and songbirds can also be fed they do not congregate in huge flocks and are less common in cities (compare the amount of times you've seen flocks of songbirds pooping on cars and then compare them to the amount of times you've seen pigeons doing it). Also, some songbirds are bad too, like house sparrows and starlings, who replace the birds that were already there and mess up the ecosystem (which is partly why bluebirds are rarer now).

I read a lot about this kind of stuff.

edit: wow, that's a lot of parentheses

they aren't pests. the pigeons can't just go into a public loo. people would probably moan if they did. and there is a lake near me with, like 60 ducks and no-one moans! and i'v been feeding the pigeon since i was like, five. and i havent  caught a single disease from them. but once i hand-fed a squirrel and i got salmonella really bad. and people should stop being so obsessed with their stupid cars.

Just because they can't go into a public bathroom doesn't mean they aren't pests, I don't know where you got that idea.

Ducks live in their natural habitat. All or most of the ducks you see are probably native (though Canada geese are actually a native pest that multiplied too much and their collected droppings can spread diseases in water to other birds, so it's probably not a brilliant idea to feed those). The droppings corrode building materials as well and they can make surfaces slippery or just coated in dried bird poop, plus they can kill vegetation if there's too much. The poop can and has washed into water supplies and infected it with E. coli. (in Belchertown, MA 1999).

While it's fun to feed the pigeons and you might see it as a kindness, they can get their own food and feeding them only increases their dependency on handouts and attracts even more pigeons.

Here are some sources.

i will continue feeding them. they ARE NOT PESTS. we share our towns/cities/parks with them. they can't help "being a problem" (which i don't believe they do). and i never said that because they can't go in a public toilet doesn't make them pests! what i mean was tat they can't help pooing on things. and the reasons on the webpages you posted links to WERE STUPID!!!

Last edited by 9star (2012-10-06 05:22:31)

I love feeding them!

9star wrote:

luiysia wrote:

9star wrote:

they aren't pests. the pigeons can't just go into a public loo. people would probably moan if they did. and there is a lake near me with, like 60 ducks and no-one moans! and i'v been feeding the pigeon since i was like, five. and i havent  caught a single disease from them. but once i hand-fed a squirrel and i got salmonella really bad. and people should stop being so obsessed with their stupid cars.

Just because they can't go into a public bathroom doesn't mean they aren't pests, I don't know where you got that idea.

Ducks live in their natural habitat. All or most of the ducks you see are probably native (though Canada geese are actually a native pest that multiplied too much and their collected droppings can spread diseases in water to other birds, so it's probably not a brilliant idea to feed those). The droppings corrode building materials as well and they can make surfaces slippery or just coated in dried bird poop, plus they can kill vegetation if there's too much. The poop can and has washed into water supplies and infected it with E. coli. (in Belchertown, MA 1999).

While it's fun to feed the pigeons and you might see it as a kindness, they can get their own food and feeding them only increases their dependency on handouts and attracts even more pigeons.

Here are some sources.

i will continue feeding them. they ARE NOT PESTS. we share our towns/cities/parks with them. they can't help "being a problem" (which i don't believe they do). and i never said that because they can't go in a public toilet doesn't make them pests! what i mean was tat they can't help pooing on things. and the reasons on the webpages you posted links to WERE STUPID!!!

We SHOULD NOT be sharing out towns/cities/parks. Pigeons should live in the wild but FEEDING attracts them back to the cities to poop on things and spread disease. Stop feeding, they stop coming and being pests.

9star wrote:

luiysia wrote:

9star wrote:

they aren't pests. the pigeons can't just go into a public loo. people would probably moan if they did. and there is a lake near me with, like 60 ducks and no-one moans! and i'v been feeding the pigeon since i was like, five. and i havent  caught a single disease from them. but once i hand-fed a squirrel and i got salmonella really bad. and people should stop being so obsessed with their stupid cars.

Just because they can't go into a public bathroom doesn't mean they aren't pests, I don't know where you got that idea.

Ducks live in their natural habitat. All or most of the ducks you see are probably native (though Canada geese are actually a native pest that multiplied too much and their collected droppings can spread diseases in water to other birds, so it's probably not a brilliant idea to feed those). The droppings corrode building materials as well and they can make surfaces slippery or just coated in dried bird poop, plus they can kill vegetation if there's too much. The poop can and has washed into water supplies and infected it with E. coli. (in Belchertown, MA 1999).

While it's fun to feed the pigeons and you might see it as a kindness, they can get their own food and feeding them only increases their dependency on handouts and attracts even more pigeons.

Here are some sources.

i will continue feeding them. they ARE NOT PESTS. we share our towns/cities/parks with them. they can't help "being a problem" (which i don't believe they do). and i never said that because they can't go in a public toilet doesn't make them pests! what i mean was tat they can't help pooing on things. and the reasons on the webpages you posted links to WERE STUPID!!!

You could avoid them pooping on things by not feeding them.

How exactly are the reasons on the websites I cited stupid? Those are all factual reasons backed up by statistics, as opposed to the anecdotal evidence you gave ("i'v been feeding the pigeon since i was like, five. and i havent  caught a single disease from them. but once i hand-fed a squirrel and i got salmonella really bad. "). Here's an anecdote: in Rotterdam, Holland, a mother of five caught pigeon lung from inhaling the dust from dried pigeon droppings that came from a nearby nest. She would clean off the fire escape outside with one child at a time and as a result her children also got sick, but not as badly.

Why aren't they pests? What do you think a pest is? The relevant definition that Oxford Dictionaries gives is "a destructive insect or other animal that attacks crops, food, livestock, etc." This fits pigeons completely - in farm areas they eat and contaminate grain that would otherwise go towards livestock or people. They mostly live in cities, though, because it is similar to their native habitat - cliffs and rock ledges in Europe, North Africa, and western Asia.

Lists of diseases that pigeons spread.

maxskywalker wrote:

9star wrote:

luiysia wrote:

Just because they can't go into a public bathroom doesn't mean they aren't pests, I don't know where you got that idea.

Ducks live in their natural habitat. All or most of the ducks you see are probably native (though Canada geese are actually a native pest that multiplied too much and their collected droppings can spread diseases in water to other birds, so it's probably not a brilliant idea to feed those). The droppings corrode building materials as well and they can make surfaces slippery or just coated in dried bird poop, plus they can kill vegetation if there's too much. The poop can and has washed into water supplies and infected it with E. coli. (in Belchertown, MA 1999).

While it's fun to feed the pigeons and you might see it as a kindness, they can get their own food and feeding them only increases their dependency on handouts and attracts even more pigeons.

Here are some sources.

i will continue feeding them. they ARE NOT PESTS. we share our towns/cities/parks with them. they can't help "being a problem" (which i don't believe they do). and i never said that because they can't go in a public toilet doesn't make them pests! what i mean was tat they can't help pooing on things. and the reasons on the webpages you posted links to WERE STUPID!!!

They are not inherently pests.  When they stick around in towns/cities/parks, they become pests.  They don't need us to feed them; they could just as easily survive in the wild on their own, and they would not create what problems they do now.  If you enjoy feeding them so much, go out into some woods or forest outside of town and feed them there.  Furthermore, just saying that a reason is 'stupid' is not a valid argument.  Try expounding on what makes them stupid.

I love the word "Expound."
Anyway, yeah how WERE the reasons on those sites STUPID!!!

Last edited by nama (2012-10-06 20:39:30)

Daroach1 wrote:

I love all animals. Pigeons are dangerous. I ain't gonna feed 'em. We clear?
Now, cockroaches are a different story. *goes to make chocolate chip cookies.*

Haha no. I don't feed roaches. But I don't mind 'em. They're fine by me, but, like pigeons,  I try not to be around them for safety reasons.
[/topic]

yeah right every day i hear people screaming: "oh help me a pigeon is ripping my throat out!!

some scientist have actually said that pigeons pose a very low health risk to humans.

soupoftomato wrote:

9star wrote:

luiysia wrote:

Just because they can't go into a public bathroom doesn't mean they aren't pests, I don't know where you got that idea.

Ducks live in their natural habitat. All or most of the ducks you see are probably native (though Canada geese are actually a native pest that multiplied too much and their collected droppings can spread diseases in water to other birds, so it's probably not a brilliant idea to feed those). The droppings corrode building materials as well and they can make surfaces slippery or just coated in dried bird poop, plus they can kill vegetation if there's too much. The poop can and has washed into water supplies and infected it with E. coli. (in Belchertown, MA 1999).

While it's fun to feed the pigeons and you might see it as a kindness, they can get their own food and feeding them only increases their dependency on handouts and attracts even more pigeons.

Here are some sources.

i will continue feeding them. they ARE NOT PESTS. we share our towns/cities/parks with them. they can't help "being a problem" (which i don't believe they do). and i never said that because they can't go in a public toilet doesn't make them pests! what i mean was tat they can't help pooing on things. and the reasons on the webpages you posted links to WERE STUPID!!!

We SHOULD NOT be sharing out towns/cities/parks. Pigeons should live in the wild but FEEDING attracts them back to the cities to poop on things and spread disease. Stop feeding, they stop coming and being pests.

feeding pigeons actually helps depressed people get better (TRUE FACT)